Soldering baths are generally used for holding molten solder, which, once molten, may be applied to an electrical component substrate to couple various electrical components to the same. Electrically-controlled soldering baths are known in the art. A typical electrically-controlled soldering bath may have, for example, a solder pot to hold molten solder, a heating mechanism to heat the solder, and an electrical control mechanism to control the supply of power to the heating mechanism. Typically, solder is composed of either a lead-based alloy, such as lead-tin, or more recently, a lead-free metal alloy, such as tin-copper, tin-silver, tin-silver-copper or tin-zinc. With increased environmental concerns and regulations, lead-free solder is now broadly used.
With the advent of lead-free solders, certain problems have arisen in relation to certain components of soldering baths. For example, a typical problem associated with conventional soldering baths is the erosion of the soldering bath. A typical soldering bath is made of stainless steel and tends to erode over time, especially if the soldering bath houses lead-free solder, which tends to erode the soldering bath faster than lead-based solders. The erosion of a stainless steel soldering bath may leach impurities into the lead-free molten solder, compromising the integrity of the molten solder. Moreover, the erosion of the soldering bath may create a safety hazard to the user since the structural integrity of the typical stainless steel soldering bath may be compromised by erosion. Furthermore, erosion may breach the structural integrity of the soldering bath such that molten solder leaks from the soldering bath, which in turn may burn the operating mechanism and create a fire risk. To address these problems, some manufacturers now manufacture soldering baths made of, for example, cast iron, titanium or stainless steel coated with nitrides. Although these alternative soldering baths may be resistant to erosion for a longer period of time, they are still not ultimately protected from erosion and will experience the same problems as discussed above when their lifetimes expire.
Another problem associated with conventional electrically-controlled soldering baths relates to the time in which it takes to melt the various lead-free solders typically used, e.g., tin-copper, tin-silver, tin-silver-copper or tin-zinc. For example, the melting point of tin-copper(0.7%) is 227 degrees Celsius, tin-silver(3.5%) is 216 degrees Celsius, and tin-silver(3.5%)-copper(0.7%) is 217 degrees Celsius. In a conventional soldering bath, the heat applied to the soldering bath for any given lead-free solder is uniform and uncontrolled. Thus, the various lead-free solders are subjected to the same amount of heat without any regard to the individual melting points of various lead-free solders. This may lead to overheating of a given lead-free solder or, alternatively, an unnecessary increase in time to melt the lead-free solder.
Yet another problem is the heating mechanism associated with a conventional soldering pot apparatus. Typically, the heating mechanism is integrated or affixed directly onto or into a soldering bath in conventional soldering pot apparatuses. Because of the nature of applying solder in a soldering application, molten solder typically may leak onto the soldering pot, and therefore the heating mechanism. Thus, when the need arises to exchange the soldering bath, the heating mechanism may be permanently stuck to the soldering bath. Therefore, the entire soldering bath apparatus may need to be replaced once the lifetime of the soldering pot expires. Thus, improvements to the problems discussed previously are desired.